A Mari Usque Ad Mare
by IronicNarwhal
Summary: Twenty-five facts about Matthew Williams that the world at large doesn't know.


A/N: I'm note sure if anyone in fandom has done this yet; in the RENT fandom, they're everywhere. If you have, please tell me and I'll credit you with actually starting it in the Hetalia fandom, as people did in the RENT fandom.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

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A Mari Usque Ad Mare

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**I. **When Matthew was little and still living with his Papa, he came down with the Black Plague. He was quite under the impression he was going to die and he felt so sick, he was pretty sure he _wanted to_. Since then, Matthew has had intense nosophobia, or fear of contracting a disease. It's so intense, he's actually become a hypochondriac. Along with this, he contracted emetophobia because all he can remember doing for a week while he was sick, was throwing up and dry heaving.

**II. **Matthew, contrary to popular belief, is not a virgin. On the equivalent of his eighteenth birthday, he'd expressed his want to just have it _over and done with_ to his Papa. He knew France would have a cure, for while he wasn't as much of a pervert around Matthew, he also knew he wouldn't pass up an opportunity such as that. Matthew had been expecting him to set him up with one of his friends or, hell, take him to one of the brothels his country was apparently abundant in. France had simply grinned like the certified sexpert he is and jumped his cute little ex-colony.

**III. **After the above encounter, Matthew had never called France Papa again. It just felt too wrong.

**IV. **On most birthdays, no one bothers to even call him and wish him a happy birthday, save for France. The birthday of 2007 was the first time he actually picked up since his technical eighteenth. Francis had begged him to meet him in Montreal. Matthew had sat there for a long time, arguing with himself about why he shouldn't go. Eventually, he had picked himself up off the couch and gone to the address Francis had given him—a park almost smack-dab in the center of the city. France had met him there with flowers, and thus began the healing of their relationship.

**V. **Sometimes, Matthew is heavily under the impression that Kumajirou is the only one that truly understands him, even if the bear forgets his name like everyone else. Even though the bear has a very limited vocabulary—things like 'who' and 'maple'—he always seems to know what to say to Matthew to keep him going in life, and that's all that matters.

**VI. **Matthew's favorite color is green, and that's because there are so many different shades of it. An infinite amount of subtle variations are available for his viewing pleasure; so many that some of them will never be named. Some people may say that these colors fit into existing categories, but Matthew can see the differences. He loves that Canada, is homeland, is also home to every imaginable shade of this color.

**VII. **Matthew is allergic to blueberries and most other heavily acidic fruits. They make him erupt in hives if he eats very many of them. But sometimes, when he's feeling a little bit daring and his hypochondria isn't flaring up, he'll eat a handful just to remind himself how they taste.

**VIII. **Alfred thinks he's crazy for that. Or, at least, he did at first. Now his southern brother actually hauls blueberries to his place every time he comes over, offering Matthew a handful and enjoying the rest for himself. Matthew likes the ritual, because it's one of the few times when he feels truly close to his brother. When they are coconspirators in the war against blueberry allergies.

**IX. **When Matthew realized he was gay, he actually entertained the idea of talking to Sweden. Three hours of awkward staring and mumbling later, and Matthew had decided he could deal with his homosexuality on his own, as long as he never had to be in the same room with the Swede, alone, ever again.

**X. **He's only ever abused his status as a nation once. He flashed his special ID identifying him as a nation to the bodyguards at an Alanis Morissette concert so he could go backstage and get an autograph.

**XI. **When he doesn't particularly want to talk to someone, he's been known to begin speaking French and pretend not to know a single word of English. He does this a lot when America drags him to large social events he'd rather not attend.

**XII. **Matthew finds legs arousing. Not to the extent that he's put in an awkward situation if he so much as sets eyes on a pair of nicely-formed legs, but he really can appreciate a pair of firm thighs when given the opportunity.

**XIII. **While it's true that he and Alfred are brothers by blood, they didn't meet officially until they were much older and when they did, the first thing out of the then-preteen Alfred's mouth were the words, "You're cute!" Then they found out they were brothers, and both were squicked.

**XIV. **One day a few years back, Matthew had the unfortunate experience of being conned into a shopping trip with Poland. Apparently, the Pole had wanted to give him a makeover. The day ended with Matthew wearing a lot of eyeliner and a bow in his hair.

**XV. **Matthew loves the scent of peaches. This is because France, when Matthew was little, used to wear a type of perfume that very much resembled their smell. When Francis would cuddle him paternally, the scent would always invade Matthew's nose. Matthew came to associate the scent of peaches with being loved, and feeling safe.

**XVI. **Matthew wasn't born a blonde. He actually much more resembled his mother, Native America, and the First Nations of his country than what he looks like now. He used to have tan skin and black hair, and he used to speak the languages of his Native people. But when the Europeans started settling, his skin had slowly lightened and his hair had become lighter as well, to resemble the vast majority of the Frenchmen that inhabited his lands.

**XVII. **The only evidence left of what he once looked like, are the tufts of delicate pubic hair between his legs. They are still as black as the hair atop his scalp was the day he was born.

**XVIII. **Sometimes, Matthew is thankful that he's not recognized as a person very often. It means he's not as engrained into the lifestyle of a nation, and that he can still live a somewhat normal life.

**XIX. **Unlike Alfred, Matthew is actually farsighted. True farsightedness is pretty rare, and usually only occurs in elderly people. His doctor had actually been quite amazed that it had occurred in Matthew, who was so young at the time. But Matthew just smiled in an all-knowing way and accepted his prescription.

**XX. **Alfred dragged him to a rave once, on a night after the last day of a World Meeting in New York. He enjoyed it more than he let on, and had a lot more to drink than he really should have. He ended up dancing shamelessly (With the help of alcohol) with someone whose face he couldn't quite see in the dim lighting. His memory on the encounter is pretty much a blur from when a certain song started playing to the next morning, when he woke up with a body next to him in his hotel room. He didn't recognize the person at first, but then realized it was Germany's brother—East Germany, more commonly known as Prussia.

**XXI. **Matthew can draw really well. Japan gave him a tutorial on how to draw his anime at one World Meeting, and Matthew had picked it up very fast. No one knows this, however, because he gets the feeling it'll just be something else that he's proud of, but everyone else overlooks. So he doesn't even bother.

**XXII. **Matthew, as a hypochondriac, has a system to approaching a new restaurant. First, he orders coffee and drinks the entire cup before ordering. If the coffee tasted funny, he pays for the coffee and doesn't order anything else. If the coffee was anything above subpar, he goes on to order something substantial that doesn't have any sort of meat in it. If that's good, he'll consider the restaurant a good place and come back. But he never orders seafood or eggs until he's incredibly comfortable with the place.

**XXIII. **Matthew has an intense sweet tooth. Maple syrup is usually how he satisfies it, but a certain albino introduced him to maple-nut ice cream, which he hadn't even realized existed. It's been his favorite flavor of ice cream ever since.

**XXIV. **It should probably be remarked upon that he and Prussia (Gilbert) are in a relationship. It's still young, and it's mostly conducted behind closed doors because neither wants to be out quite yet. But Matthew already knows that the relationship will be good, if not a long-term thing. He knows because, when he and Gilbert are alone, Gilbert will unconsciously stroke Matthew's arm, from fingertip to shoulder, and that tells Matthew that he knows he's there. That he hasn't forgotten Matthew's presence, and that's all Matthew has ever wanted.

**XXV. **Matthew enjoys life. It might not seem like it sometimes, but he does. The people who matter to him know who he is, and those who don't he doesn't care about. He's got Alfred, who isn't the perfect or most considerate brother, but who is so pure in his want to help people. He just doesn't know how to go about it yet, and Matthew sometimes thinks that, even though Alfred is older, he's more innocent than Matthew ever was. He's got Francis, who's desperately trying to fix their relationship after that awful, drunken birthday. And Matthew is letting him, and it's slowly returning back to normal. He's got Gilbert, who is narcissistic and selfish, but who is also so affectionate and caring at times, that he can already feel himself falling in love with him. And, finally but most importantly, he's got his people. They never turned their backs on him and they never forget who he is, even though many of them don't know the land they love is represented by an actual person. Their love is unconditional, and if they're the only people who ever love him like that, he's alright with that.

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End Story

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A/N: I tried desperately to avoid pairings in this one. But eventually, I had to pick one. I felt so bad about it, that I put in subtext for every other pairing I could possibly imagine. And only two, maybe three facts really _mentioned_ the relationship with Prussia. Number 20 deals more with the rave and the fact that _no one_ would ever think Matthew would do that, than the waking up in bed with Prussia.

About number one: Matthew _wouldn't_have been under France's care when the Black Plague was at its height, if Matthew being taken by Francis coincides with when the first Frenchmen landed in Canada, and when they first set up a colony which was around 1603. But there were smaller breakouts of the Plague until the late 19th century, when cholera took over as the main problem.

Also, I only know what those phobias are because I kind of have all of them…haha. Germaphobia isn't an actual phobia, just so you know…My friends always accuse me of having that and I get mad at them…I'm also a hypochondriac, though that goes without saying.

I _really_ hope you enjoyed, and that if you don't like PruCan you could see past it to the true message. :)

**EDIT**: Okay, I got a couple of complaints about what I said about the credit…I'm really, really sorry. I didn't mean it the way it sounded, AT ALL. If anyone else was offended, I really apologize. I really, really do. I'm really good for putting my foot in my mouth.

I was under the impression that this was something that got started in the RENT fandom, because they were really popular there. Now I find out that they were popular way before then. Just for the record, I had no idea. But of course I give credit to whoever came up with the idea. I can't name them, because I don't know who they are, but I really do credit them with coming up with this idea. It's really awesome.

As for me, I don't take credit for anything. Except the facts as they pertain to Matthew. All I ask is that you tell me, if you like one of the facts I said about Matthew in this story and want to take that fact and make it into a story of your own. I realize that what I said before came out totally wrong, and I didn't mean it like it sounded. I only want to know if you intend to take my work, i.e. something from the above fic, and use it in your own works. I was told to credit **Elizabeth Odessky, **when I did this in the RENT fandom. No one told me any different. But please, by all means, take do this sort of story for any other character, or do another one for Matthew! Do whatever you want, just please forget that I ever put my foot in my mouth and said those things...I didn't mean to.

I'm really, really sorry. I really am; I can't say it enough. I just feel so horrible about that… My life's been a bit of a wreck lately, so I probably wasn't thinking straight.

-Lynn


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